


Alicia

by phoenixnz



Series: The Chronicles of Martha and Jonathan [32]
Category: Smallville
Genre: Episode Related, F/M, Implied Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:54:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23471302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixnz/pseuds/phoenixnz
Summary: Martha and Jonathan deal with the fall-out from Alicia's actions
Relationships: Alicia Baker/Clark Kent, Jonathan "Pa" Kent/Martha Kent
Series: The Chronicles of Martha and Jonathan [32]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/268900
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	Alicia

**Author's Note:**

> From Unsafe and Pariah, Season 4

Martha was more than a little upset. It wasn’t the fact that her son had been once again infected with red K. She knew what he was like under the influence of the stone. In a lot of ways, it was like a drug to him. The same way Jonathan would get sometimes if he had a little too much to drink at the Wild Coyote.

Of course, Jonathan had never really done anything wild. The worst he’d ever done when he’d been drunk was to get a little amorous. When they’d first been married, Martha had laughed at his antics as he stumbled through the house, trying to dance with her and generally making an idiot of himself.

Under red Kryptonite, however, Clark was something else. The first time had been a rebellion of sorts. Clark had revealed his feelings about never having the same things everyone else had. Of always having to be careful about money. When Martha had been young and naïve on the ways of the world, she had dreamed of being able to give her children everything they always wanted. Even though she knew of some children who did get exactly that and ended up spoiled brats.

This time was far worse than acting like a spoiled teenager. In many ways worse than running away to Metropolis and robbing banks or automatic teller machines.

He’d got married. To a girl who had, just a year ago, been sent to Belle Reve for trying to kill the girl Clark had always claimed he was in love with.

Martha understood a little something about teenage love affairs and developing infatuations that sometimes only lasted until dinnertime. She also understood that Clark had wanted to be with someone who not only knew about his powers, but was his equal on some level.

But to get married? To Alicia Baker?

“It wasn’t legal,” Clark told her, a tear slipping from his eye.

That wasn’t the point, she thought. Even as he poured his heart out about being able to be himself around Alicia, she was worried. She had no idea if this girl was really cured. And that fact that she not only knew about the red K, but had used it to try to persuade Clark to run away with her was dangerous.

She wanted to believe her son when he told her that Alicia was completely cured of her psychotic break, but she still had doubts. Even when he told her a day or so later that Alicia had teleported in front of a bullet to save him from revealing his powers. Sure, those actions weren’t the actions of a girl so obsessed with someone that she would do anything to keep them. She had obviously accepted the fact that she and Clark could never really be. But there was still that niggling doubt.

Martha thought those doubts were completely justified a couple of weeks later when Lana was attacked. Given their history, and the fact that it had happened in a locked bathroom, Martha was convinced it was Alicia.

Clark, however, was adamant that Alicia was not behind the attacks and even defended her to the sheriff. Martha had no idea how to handle this. She didn’t trust Alicia and wasn’t happy that her son continued to date the girl, even though both she and Jonathan had made their feelings quite clear on the matter.

Jonathan sighed as Clark stormed out.

“I don’t know, Martha. If we keep trying to force him to stop seeing her …”

“I know, I know,” she replied. “The more we tell him not to do something, the more he’s going to rebel. I just … I don’t know what to do.”

Her husband wrapped his arms around her. “We’re just going to have to let him make his own decisions on this. He’s almost eighteen.”

In the eyes of the law, of course, that made Clark an adult. Or almost. As much as Martha hated to admit it, she always knew that at one point she would have to accept the fact that her son wasn’t a little boy anymore and had to learn to make his own mistakes.

That was half the problem. She still saw him as her little boy who needed her protection.

Jonathan knew what she was thinking. As much as they still felt it was their job to protect their son, there would inevitably come a time when they had to let go and trust him to make his own decisions. Clark had demonstrated that quite clearly when he’d decided to join the football team that year.

Jonathan had worried that his son might forget himself and do something to reveal his abilities, or hurt someone. The fact that he had been proved right in the end was irrelevant. Especially when it was revealed that the reason behind Clark’s stumble in the field, resulting in him breaking a boy’s collarbone, was a boy who had used some kind of hypnosis.

Martha had continued to remind him that by not supporting his son, he was telling him that he didn’t trust his judgement.

As much as he didn’t trust his son’s girlfriend, he realised that by trying to talk Clark out of dating the girl, they were telling him they didn’t trust his judgement.

“Martha,” he said quietly. “I think we need to let Clark deal with this alone. I don’t trust the girl either, but we have to trust him. He’s not a little boy anymore.”

“I know,” she said with a sigh.

It was only a day or so later when they received some shocking news. Alicia Baker had been murdered and Clark had almost killed the boy responsible.

Lois had been the one to break it to them. Chloe’s cousin was in her freshman year at Metropolis University. Clark had met her that summer when she had come to Smallville looking for answers into Chloe’s faked death.

Jonathan listened, watching his wife’s face pale with shock as Lois revealed what had happened. She had gone out on a date with the boy, whose name was Tim. When the young man had begun talking about immoral behaviour and the attacks on Lana and Jason, she had put two and two together and realised Tim had been the one to attack them.

She’d gone looking for Clark to tell him and found him at Alicia’s home in Granville. He’d been kneeling on the floor of the barn, holding the lifeless body of his girlfriend.

“Anyway, I told him I thought I knew who had done it and he just took off. I figured I had to stop him before he did something he’d regret and called the sheriff on the way. I got there just in time.”

“What do you mean, just in time?” Martha asked.

“He was strangling the guy. I mean, yeah, the guy’s a murderer but I didn’t think … I mean, I didn’t want Clark going to prison, even if it was sort of justified. So I begged him to stop. And he did.”

Jonathan was impressed. While Clark and Lois appeared to have kind of an adversarial relationship, she just seemed to have a way of bringing out the best in Clark.

The sheriff stopped by the next day.

“I’m guessin’ you heard what happened with Miss Baker.”

She went on to explain that initially the police had thought it was suicide, but some things didn’t add up. An autopsy had uncovered cotton fibres in her nose, which meant she’d been rendered unconscious by someone before being hung. The ligature mark around her neck also showed she had slowly been strangled by the rope, instead of her neck being broken by the fall.

Jonathan looked at Martha. Clark was in the barn, where he had been since he’d come home. They had no idea how to deal with his grief.

“Maybe we should just let him be for now,” he suggested quietly.

After two days, however, it was apparent Clark wasn’t interested in coming back down from his self-imposed isolation. Jonathan knew they had to do something.

Together, they went up to the loft. Clark was listlessly bouncing a ball back and forth.

“Hey son,” he said, keeping his tone gentle.

“How are you doing, sweetheart?” Martha said.

Clark shrugged.

Jonathan still had no idea what to do but told his son that none of it had been his fault. It was obvious from what Clark said next that he blamed himself. That Alicia would still be alive if he had done what she wanted.

Martha shook her head and patted his knee gently.

“Sweetheart, no. You don’t know that for sure. Even if you had gone to the sheriff, it might still have happened. You can’t do this to yourself. Alicia wouldn’t want you to either.”

“You don’t understand. You never trusted her and you didn’t like her. I … I loved her.”

Jonathan knew he should tread carefully with this. Clark might have thought he loved her, but he felt it was more an infatuation.

“Clark, I’m sorry for the things I said about Alicia. You were right. We didn’t trust her.”

Clark looked up at them, his eyes swimming with unshed tears.

“We can’t take that back,” Jonathan said gently.

“No one in town believed in her,” his son said miserably.

Martha held him as he began sobbing. “I know, sweetheart. You were the only one who believed in her and now she’s gone. I know you’re not ready to hear this right now, but things will get better. I promise.”

Jonathan nodded. Together the couple held their grieving son. It would take time, but eventually he would be able to move on.

Maybe the rest of the town would never really know or understand the events that had led to her death, but Jonathan was damned sure that no one would ever forget. The poor girl was dead not because of her own actions, but because someone wanted to escape punishment for his own terrible deeds. They’d all misjudged Alicia and that was something they all needed to face.


End file.
